phoenixradiant

[phoenixradiant]

Idek how to explain my life anymore so at some point I just broke and now there's a slideshow titled "What Happened to My Life: A Short Long but Inadequate Explanation" and Part I is 67 slides

Stay tuned to find out how long Part II runs

[phoenixradiant]

When one of your characters shares one overly specific mannerism from someone you actually know

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ruin's reprisal - it's release day!

it is my absolute pleasure to announce that my debut book, Ruin's Reprisal, is now out in the world - that's right, it's release day! (im writing this at 23:55 uk time, im remarkably late but im finding that to be a special skill i have for writeblr these days)

if you're interested in reading it - you can find the link to Ruin's Reprisal here!

first and foremost, i want to say the most heartfelt thank you possible to everyone that has stood by me and my work on this journey - and today, years worth of hard work is finally done, it's finally something out there that i can share with you all, it's real, it's a completed, self-published book, and now others can experience the story, the characters and the world that have been keeping me going for so long!

and i'm tagging everybody i can possibly think of because it's such a momentous day for me and i can't not share it with you all!

@the-ellia-west @willtheweaver @tildeathiwillwrite @drchenquill @365runesofthesystem

@coffin-hopping @godsmostfuckedupgoblin @a-mimsy-borogove @frostedlemonwriter @i-do-anything-but-write

@r-u-living @thatuselesshuman @lead-to-code @sunflowerrosy @theaistired

@phoenixradiant @autism-purgatory @corinneglass @tiredpapergirl @patheticexcuseforawriter

@missmisanthrope @littlestchildofthemoon @morganxduinn @thebrownleathernotebook @rmhashauthor

@lamuradex @fantasy-things-and-such @glasshouses-and-stones @hattonthehatman @humbly-a-doppelganger

@ramwritblr @s-pendragon7 @thelastneuron @heartreactor @ihauntmyhouse

@shiningstars-world @scaewolf @just-emis-blog @joeys-piano @ramitola

@yrndrgn @riveriafalll @lawrencespen1777 @theverumproject @zackprincebooks

@justjariel @orion-lacroix @jupiter---daydreams @vinniehorrible @stars-forever

@thewritingautisticat @whatwewrotepodcast @anaisbebe @appleandsnow @urnumber1star

@chaotictravelerrants @andagii-projects @dragmewithyoutonirvana @a-bi-cat-with-books @fearofahumanplanet

@just-a-domesticated-cryptid @attemptingwriter @kitkins13 @ray-writes-n-shit

@theonewholivesinthemovies @rheas-chaos-motivation @bookwormclover @sunflowerrosy @seastarblue

@aalinaaaaaa

[phoenixradiant]

So something of a weird request, but...

I would like to develop an appreciation for bugs.

Why? I have my reasons. Lots of reasons. Yes, one of those reasons is female. But reasons aside, I have trouble with appreciating bugs properly because of their legs. They look too brittle, too fragile, almost artificial. Bug legs make me feel literally all of the bad emotions, angry and sad and disgusted and a little bit scared. Same thing goes for antennae. Smooth surfaces like shell or wings I'm fine with, but itty bitty chitin structures bother me. Which is why rhinoceros beetles are the best bug. So. Are there any bugs that don't have itty bitty legs or ones that are borderline large/sturdy/smooth enough to sort of ease me into bug legs?

And do you have pictures?

[phoenixradiant]

For the purposes of understanding whether you do or do not want to be talked to, does the comma go before or after people?

Dammit people talk to me

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Y'know some characters make me proud to have created them out of fragments of my own soul. Like Radiaten. He's mostly the good parts of me, and I like and am proud of him. Other characters... disturb me. Which is another way of saying it's another Magrom Karven POV chapter and the malady that has a death grip on his heart worries me.

Not sure how he's going to redeem himself from this one.

[phoenixradiant]

Post-Canon Maiph Being a Menace

**Group is having lunch at Cellic and Maiph's home because why not**

Magrom Karven: **Eating with his hands**

Maiph, offhandedly: "Magrom Karven, use a knife like a civilized human being. I've seen you pass in high society, I know you can do it."

Kar: **swallows** "That was my disguise, I thought I was supposed to be my true self these days."

Maiph: "Ria, no, I could imagine little worse. No, you're going to behave like the regal young man you're going to be."

Lutian: **Breaks into a teasing grin and punches Kar on the shoulder**

Also Lutian: **Licks her fingers**

Kar: "What about her? She's going to be queen one day-"

Farric: "Assuming you don't find yourself a lady one of these days."

Lycoris*: "Safe assumption."

Kar, dryly: "That being the case. Why doesn't she have to eat like a 'civilized person'?"

Maiph: "Because I enjoy mocking you by letting her do things you can't."

Cellic: **Nods as if to say "She does do that" while taking a huge bite and chewing with his mouth open**

Kar: "And him?"

Cellic: "Ha mu wa ha wa."

Maiph, fondly: "He does what he wants."

[phoenixradiant]

Writing emotion be like:

The light in the wyvern's eyes dimmed, then extinguished. Cellic knelt there a long while, but found himself stirred to stand again. Something whispered in his soul, that old creed. Love what is good. "Hate what is evil," he finished, that same flame igniting in his own irises.

Writing walking be like: And then he went over to this place. It wasn't urgent enough for him to run, but like it also wasn't chill enough for him to walk, so he just went, you get me?

what people think is hard about writing: describing the joy, love, beauty, grief, loss and hope that form the richness of human experience

what is actually hard about writing: describing basic actions such as turning, leaning over, reclining, gesturing, saying something in a quiet voice, breathing, getting up from chairs, and walking across rooms

[phoenixradiant]

Magrom Karven: **holds humanity in derision for being weak and sentimental**

Also Magrom Karven: **gets rage-baited into giving up a fortified position and loses a battle and nearly the war**

Magrom Karven:

[phoenixradiant]

This song sucks

It's in a genre I don't like, it's so remarkably cliche, a linguistic trash fire, unbearably sappy, has no interesting harmony, and is not even top 20 on my personal list of songs that cover the same mood.

Hits "Repeat 1"

[phoenixradiant]

The Hero of the Realm: Always... always there will be the face of the first person you killed, looking back at you from the shady recesses of a room or from the corner of your vision or from the faces of all the rest piled under your feet. Always you will be afraid of your own hands. Of what you can do. The rust on your armor and the blood on your blade are the same color."

A simple peasant: Milord, this is a Wendy's

[phoenixradiant]

Jak being scared of having a crush on a 17-year-old when she's almost 18 and he's just barely turned 22

"I'M SUCH A CREEP AAAAAAAAAGGHHH, I JUST THINK SHE'S PRETTY AND FUNNY AND SHE'S BEEN MY BEST FRIEND FOR THE LONGEST TIME"

Rose: "If you date my sister, I will punch you."

[phoenixradiant]

Okay so my mom and I share something of a protective instinct. My mom is also an inconsolable worrier. While I'm home for Easter I kinda may or may not need to inform my parents about my life plans. My possibly (unlikely, but possibly) dangerous and certainly anxiety-inducing life plans. If y'all could pray I don't give my mother a heart attack (or myself one while explaining), that would be appreciated

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Halp I think I accidentally gave up my dignity for lent

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I am doing the writing again. Slowly, but more and more. Am excited.

[phoenixradiant]

*wants to post my favorite scenes but they're all spoilers*

[phoenixradiant]

Avoiding Plot Holes by Seeding Doubt

Having an “expert” character conveniently fuck up right when the plot needs it to happen, when they otherwise would never, always loudly looks like the hand of the author sabotaging things. Which is exactly what’s happening.

However, if you set up that scene in a way where that fuckup is possible and warranted, you can turn “this is so contrived” to “omg I knew that was going to happen”.

Some suggestions!

Firstly, if we’re dealing with humans, humans are not machines. Variability in skill even at the expert level happens. Go watch the Olympics or any professional sporting event and people have terrible days all the time.

In fiction, a conveniently terrible day because that’s just how this works doesn’t fly. Diablos ex machinas tend to go over easier than deus ex machinas, but a character failing at a critical challenge in the narrative for no reason screws with a lot of the tension and expectations. “For no reason” takes no effort by the author to set up and pay off, and it reads as cheap.

Behavioral variables

I am a novice archer. I write expert archers. I do not write supernaturally accurate archers. From the very beginning of my story, my expert, with four centuries of experience, isn’t nailing perfect kill shots with every hit. A) he doesn’t need to and B) leaving his enemy to die slowly and painfully is a low he will absolutely stoop to if he thinks it’s warranted.

He’s as good as he has to be and if he gets the job done, he doesn’t care if it’s a little messy. Him being messy and overconfident is what gets him in the end, too. If he’s trying, he’ll do better, but most of the time “eh, I got close enough, they’ll die eventually” is his mindset.

“Expert” in fiction being “this is a character who will reliably pass the challenges set up for them by the narrative”.

So if you have an “expert,” allowing them to get a little bit lazy and overconfident, or simply not think of themselves as needing to be perfect in a given situation, you allow yourself a lot of wiggle room for them to majorly fuck up.

Doesn’t work very well if I throw my archer into an archery tournament, but I haven’t done that, and I’ll get to that later.

Environmental variables

Using the archery example once again: Archery is finnicky and precision is key. So if you’ve got your archer, or any marksman, in a windy environment, they have to work that much harder to factor in the wind when setting up their shot.

If it’s rainy, or the sun’s in their face, or it’s dark, or it’s loud and they can’t focus, these things aren’t exact data points the audience is going to do the math on. Or, if they and their enemy are moving, which, in combat, is highly likely.

Physiological variables

Maybe your character didn’t get enough sleep, or they’re stressed about this moment, they’re cracking under the pressure, they’re doubting themselves, the enemy got into their head, or they’re distracted worrying about something else. Or they got drunk the night before, they ate too much or too little. They’re sick, their hands are sweaty, they’ve got a sinus headache. They’ve got cramps, or hot flashes, or earlier they pulled a muscle and it still tweaks.

These are all, once again, introducing doubt into the narrative so that, when they fuck up as the plot demands, the audience should consider “well they weren’t at their best, I believe it”.

—

The sloppy way to do this is to go, in the moment:

“But because it was windy, X missed his shot”.

Is this the first time the reader is learning that it’s windy? Pretty convenient to introduce it right as it becomes important.

Rather, establish your variable beforehand in a disconnected moment. Try to ground it to a different element, otherwise it might look like it’s being mentioned for no other reason than “this is important”. Or, if it’s environmental, bury it with the other sensory descriptors.

When establishing the scene and setting, casually mention how the wind is interacting with the characters—making their hair a mess, throwing pollen everywhere, making skirts billow, etc.

Have another character complain about this variable bothering them

Have the character instantly regret the decision they made the night before for unrelated reasons. Like, if they got drunk, now they’ve still got a headache.

Depends on the story and the audience, of course, but I personally think having the narrator explicitly call out the variable fuckery going on reads a bit hammy. I like letting the audience figure out what went wrong with the clues I give.

If the scene demands, I'll also let my characters get annoyed and upset about their shots going wrong and blaming the environment. So long as it's not "hand of the author here to tell you what went wrong" you've got options.

I wouldn’t pull this trick too many times, otherwise your “expert” ends up consistently not an expert and then their sudden success looks suspect and contrived.

If you are writing some sort of tournament where this character is deliberately setting themselves up for success and is considering all these variables… a great example I like is Todoroki vs Bakugo in My Hero Academia season 2.

Dude is an uncertain mess throughout the rest of his tournament once his “fuck you dad I’m gonna win by half-assing it” suddenly isn’t enough to beat Midoriya. He’s forced to face some Tragic Backstory and it throws him off his game—establishes doubt.

He has a string of successes once he starts taking baby steps with the other half of his powers, and in the finale, he’s up against someone where he really does have to give it his all if he wants to win. His brute force powers are up against someone who has honed his very specific and powerful abilities for a decade.

And he can’t do it.

The final fight stops being a matter of power metrics and who would win if they both were competing at their best with all the tricks in their playbook available, which is what most of the tournament had been up to this point.

Basically—it stops being a numbers game, and starts being an emotional one. If you have a character you need to fail at something, but who wouldn’t otherwise, consider shifting the battle from external to internal, so the task failure is just the catalyst for the real meat of the story: what this loss means to this person in the long run.

**Side note there are of course a ton of anime tournament fights probably better than this one, Rock Lee’s whole arc against Gaara is one of them, I just don’t remember it well enough to comment on it.

Not every reader is going to be savvy enough to go “well that’s going to be important later”. Use betas and editors to help gauge how vague or obvious your foreshadowing is.

But even if you have readers sussing out your foreshadowing: Part of the fun is figuring out how the journey will end, even if we know when and where. Otherwise tragedies and prequels wouldn’t be made.

The dramatic irony of knowing variable fuckery is at play when the character is unaware can be so fun as the audience. Horror films are kind of built on it.